London's focus is on Appalachian State, not Virginia

The first question Richmond football coach Mike London faced Monday had nothing to do with his team's upcoming national quarterfinal against Appalachian State.

Instead, a reporter on the Colonial Athletic Association's media teleconference asked London whether he is interested in the head-coaching position at the University of Virginia.

The immediacy and directness of the question seemed to surprise London, a former assistant at Virginia under Al Groh, whom the school fired Sunday.

"It's an unfortunate situation that just happened up there," London said. "It's a reality of coaching and everything. … My focus is on the game (against) Appalachian State. My entire focus is on that.

"So I'm not going to talk speculations or rumors or anything like that. I've got a ballgame to try to prepare for and win. I'd appreciate that any questions or hypothetical scenarios and all that stuff be sensitive to the fact that I'm the head coach of the University of Richmond, and I'm getting ready for Appalachian State."

A graduate of UR and Bethel High, London guided the Spiders to the championship subdivision national title in 2008, his first as a head coach. Richmond (11-1) defeated Elon in last week's opening playoff round and plays host to Appalachian State (10-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

London vowed that questions about Virginia would not distract his team.

"My focus is going to be addressing … Appalachian State and what we need to do to beat them," he said. "The players' focus, the coaches' focus and our energies and efforts, that's what we're thinking about, and I'll make sure that happens because I'm the one answering the questions."

London, 24-4 at Richmond, joined Groh's first Virginia staff in 2001 as defensive line coach. He added recruiting coordinator to his title in 2002 and remained in Charlottesville through the 2004 season.

After serving as the Houston Texans' defensive line coach in 2005, London returned to Virginia as defensive coordinator.